With December almost here, we felt a mix of excitement and panic when we spotted Christmas decorations at our local supermarket! While the holiday season and all of its “madness” is truly upon us, there’s still a big task list on every marketing team’s agenda.

Now, don’t panic: if you feel behind schedule marketing-wise, take a deep breath and keep on reading. We’re here to help!

Your holiday campaign doesn’t have to be planned months in advance, nor does it need hefty budgets or a lot of buzzwords. Instead, focus on establishing clear goals, making the most of your images, and targeting the needs of your customers.

You and your team can start tackling these three simple tasks today to make this holiday season a surefire success!

1. Clarify your goal

Before you answer what, ask yourself why.

Having a goal gives you both long-term vision and short-term motivation. Creating a clear goal (if you haven’t already) can give you and your team focus…especially if you’re in a time crunch).

Grab a coffee (or glass of wine, we won’t judge!) and put a 20-minute timer on your phone. Answer the following questions:

Why is the holiday season important for our business?

What is our company’s specificgoal* for the holiday season?

How can we achieve that goal? What actions should the team take to achieve this?

Break your answer into detailed action steps that start with a verb. Go granular, list it all! For example:

Get winery images for both website and newsletter

Write Christmas gift guide

Set up shipping specials until January 2

Print posters with tasting room events, etc.

Pin your answers on the wall (a few post-it notes on the side of the screen works too). Quickly review: would each item from my action steps help me achieve the specific goal I set? If the answer is “not really”, remove that action altogether.

*Need a hand with goals? Check out our suggestions below:

To increase customers: generate XX conversions through marketing outreach on social by Jan 1, 2018

To raise holiday revenue (option A): make $XX extra sales per week from wine club

2. Leverage the power of images

Humans (that includes your customers!), are wired for visual stimuli.

Your product images are there when you or your product can't be. This means these images are integral for both your online, social media and marketing presence. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what's stopping you from making your bottle shine?

Create your own imagery

From professional photo shoots to iPhone snaps of your team in the tasting room, your photos play a key role in selling your brand. If you have the budget for a photographer, remember your hero image can be used on the website homepage, product page, flyers, in-store and tasting room promotions, email marketing, social media… the list goes on. Don’t tell your customers to buy your wine this holiday, show them!

Source your own imagery

While you may not have time (or the budget) to organize a photo shoot, you’ve still got options! Services like Outshinery can save you time AND dollars. Choose a scene that perfectly captures what you want to say, tell us what bottle you want to feature… and that’s it! You now have a high quality hero image you can use everywhere! Save yourself the hassle and make your products shine. Check out these accounts to discover the potential: @MorganWinery and @MiSuenoWinery

Intrigued? Want to have a closer look at Outshinery’s ready-to-use imagery?Download the Holiday Toolkit at the top right inside of this page: get perfectly-curated lifestyle images and a marketing calendar!

Tap into user-generated content

If your customers are already tagging you in their photos with your product you’ve hit the jackpot! If not, it’s time to offer friendly in-store reminders or post-purchase emails! Tools like Hootsuite, Instagram tags and Google search are the best ways to find the visuals your fans are sharing. Not sure where to start? Jump onto Instagram and search your product name in tags. Check out accounts like #Bonnydoonwine and #Penfoldswine

3. Let people guide you

Step into your customer's shoes with a persona analysis.

While you know your brand inside and out, sometimes you need to take a step away from the screen, or the barrel, and analyze how you fit into your customer’s life.

To get in the mindset of your customers you’ll want to create two or three personas that genuinely reflect a top customer of yours. Give them a name, a family, a job - the more realistic you can be the better you can identify their needs. These personas will help you both understand your customers and better solve their problems. And when you solve their problems, everyone wins.

For each one of them answer:

What is their favorite varietal?

What is their monthly wine budget?

Do they shop at the local liquor store, tasting room and/or online?

How can I make their purchase even easier?

You may be surprised by the insights you gain from this simple exercise. Draft a simple to-do list from your discoveries. Some of which may be: free shipping for orders over $XXX, free gift wrapping when you come to the tasting room, online giveaway for when people sign up to your newsletter, hosting a seasonal tasting room event, recipe sharing with the perfect wine pairing… you can get as creative as you want with these ideas!

We hope you found these three tips enlightening! What’s more, Outshinery partnered up with WineDirect to help you out in this (crazy) busy season.

This download includes:

1 marketing content calendar for November and December 2017 (4 page PDF)

8 lifestyle images (square + rectangular formats)

5 Outshinery lifestyle demo images: take your campaign one step further and put your bottle in that picture!

You can also access your toolkit using the form on the top right inside of this page. Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday!

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